Consumer Class Action

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will hear arguments on March 28, 2019 in Washington, DC about whether to transfer the cases filed against 3M in various U.S. district courts to the District of Minnesota for pretrial proceedings. These lawsuits allege that 3M knowingly manufactured a defective earplug that led to hearing loss and tinnitus when not worn properly. The company is alleged to have known about the design defect and failed to provide adequate instructions to users on how to wear the product.

On behalf of
Joel Rhine of Rhine Law Firm, P.C. posted
February 11, 2019

We appreciate the sacrifice our soldiers make to protect our freedoms. Many of them return from war zones with life-altering injuries, but whenever possible, we want to protect them from such harm. To knowingly send soldiers into battle with inferior equipment is unconscionable.

This is why there has been such outrage over revelations that a multi-million-dollar corporation, 3M, supplied American troops with earplugs they knew were defective.

If you serve or have served in Fayetteville, Jacksonville, Ft. Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Pope AFB, Cherry Point, and other locations such as National Guard and Reserve posts, please keep reading. Read the rest »

Doctors and hospitals need to record, file, search, access, compare, and share patients’ data in order to successfully treat them, and in this digital age, many private companies make a fortune by storing and organizing this data for healthcare providers. Read the rest »

On behalf of
Joel Rhine of Rhine Law Firm, P.C. posted
October 12, 2017

In May 2016, Johnson & Johnson’s subsidiary company Ethicon issued an “URGENT FIELD SAFETY NOTICE” alerting surgeons that it was voluntarily recalling a product. The product was Physiomesh, a composite mesh used mainly in hernia repair surgery.

This is not the first such recall that has been made.

However, all the FDA and manufacturer recalls don’t add up to the pain and suffering that has been—and still is—experienced by hernia repair patients. Read the rest »

On behalf of
Joel Rhine of Rhine Law Firm, P.C. posted
September 27, 2017

Surgical mesh is used routinely in laparoscopic and open hernia surgery at all hospitals in the nation. In fact, an estimated 90% of hernia repairs in the United States use mesh.

First, let’s mention a positive: mesh is associated with a lower recurrence rate of hernias. But even that benefit is being swallowed up as new surgical techniques are developed (the Desarda hernia repair method, for example). Theoretically, mesh strengthens the abdominal wall and invites body tissues to grow through it, integrating it seamlessly. But there are two main problems with most meshes used today. Read the rest »

On behalf of
Joel Rhine of Rhine Law Firm, P.C. posted
February 22, 2016

As tax season approaches, millions of Americans are once again looking to tax preparation software and programs that make it as easy as possible to file their tax returns. While these popular programs are very efficient and effective tools when it comes to filing ones taxes, they do not come without their risks. Just last year, a class action lawsuit was filed against Intuit, the maker of the tax prep software TurboTax, after thousands of consumers reported having fraudulent tax returns filed in their names. The plaintiffs in the TurboTax class action lawsuit alleged that Intuit enabled fraudulent tax filings and identity theft because it failed to take necessary security precautions to protect consumers’ private information. The complaint states that Intuit has a duty to protect sensitive customer data, even guaranteeing on its website that “all TurboTax platforms offer a secure, easy-to-use experience.” However, Intuit failed in its duty to protect customers’ information and should be held liable for any damages that resulted. Sadly, this is not the first lawsuit that Intuit has faced over TurboTax. Intuit reached a $6.55 million class action lawsuit settlement back in 2013 after the free TurboTax edition included exorbitantly high interest rates. This tax season, there have already been reports from consumers that claim fake accounts were made in their names using their stolen social security numbers, and subsequently fraudulent tax returns were filed in their names. Currently, the attorneys of Rhine Law Firm are investigating claims on behalf of those individuals whose personal information has been compromised due to the fraudulent filing of a tax return in their name. If you believe your personal information has been compromised, whether you were a customer of TurboTax or not, contact the attorneys of Rhine Law Firm today for a free case evaluation.

On behalf of
Joel Rhine of Rhine Law Firm, P.C. posted
October 6, 2015

T-Mobile USA Inc. announced recently that personal information for 15 million of its customers was stolen by unidentified hackers due to a recently discovered data breach at Experian, the company that processes the wireless carrier’s credit checks. The stolen customer data includes names, addresses, birth dates and encrypted Social Security and driver’s license numbers, which Experian warned may have been compromised, according to T-Mobile. The company said the breach occurred during a two-year period ending Sept. 16.

Consumers in North Carolina might wish to take note of a recent class action lawsuit filed against a major brand company. The product liability case involves a claim of false advertising. Those involved in the action say that the companies involved continued to sell the product in question even though they knew it would not perform as advertised.

On behalf of
Joel Rhine of Rhine Law Firm, P.C. posted
February 27, 2015

Rhine Law Firm, P.C. has filed a lawsuit on behalf of current and former Shorter University students in the wake of a data breach in which up to 900 individuals’ medical files were allegedly stolen out of an unlocked room on campus.

Based in Wilmington, North Carolina, Rhine Law Firm, P.C. represents clients statewide. We Regularly Meet With Clients After 5 P.M. And On Weekends

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